As the home shopping season heats up, we’re again compelled to tackle the classic housing question: To buy or to rent? Ultimately, the answer depends on how long you think it will be until you want (or in bad times, need) to move again. According to Zillow’s research, the Buy or Rent break-even horizon for the Inland Empire is only 1.5 years. This means if you intend to stay in your home for more than 1.5 years, the cost to rent will exceed the costs of purchasing a home. A good sign for the Inland Empire is that it has a similar break-even horizon as the booming economy of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (1.2 years), where as Los Angeles has the longest break-even horizon in the country at 5 years!
For interactive maps/graphs and Zillow’s full article click here: http://www.zillow.com/research/q4-2014-buy-rent-breakeven-9380/